Classic Japanese green tea, blended with toasted, popped rice. Warm, nutty with a lovely savory and hearty quality.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Genmai Cha, including flavor, aroma, preparation preferences, strength, and how the tea fits into daily routines. Browse the full review history page by page to compare tasting notes, steeping tips, and favorite ways to enjoy this tea.
August 29 review: Fantastic! This was one of my favorites from the green tea portions sampler. It has a unique, nutty, toasted flavor that is very comforting and delicious. I love the look of it too, with the tiny popped rice popcorns in it. I will always have this one in my pantry!
Sept. 27: I now have this in both looseleaf and the sachet bags to drink at work. Still love it. :)
13 Dec 2020 review: What a beautiful sight inside my communiTEA packet! Toasty puffed rice aromas and lovey delicate vibrant dark green tea leaves were noted. The whole effect made me smile.
When hot, moderate toasty puffed rice flavors and aromas were noted. Very nice and mild green Sencha flavors were noted. When warm, strong buttery, savory nutty flavors were noted. The Sencha provided a mild and pleasant green grassiness flavor to make sure you knew it was there.
This was a mysterious and different sip from start to finish. It had a strong nutty flavor that was just too upfront and overpowered the delicate green tea. Basically, it tasted like I was drinking toasted rice krispies! (2 mins @ 175ºF, no sugar)
I expected to taste more of the puffed rice than I did. I was very excited for that toasty flavor, but it just didn't come through for me. This might have been better brewed cold, but I'm not sure what I did wrong.
I have been waiting all month for this tea! I normally wait to drink a CommuniTEA packet on the day its scheduled for, but I simply could not control myself with this one. So here I am, the night before the long-awaited Genmai Cha Day, and yep, I totally busted into this packet. And I'm not even sorry.
Here's the thing: I'm really picky about green teas. Most green teas are either astringent or vegetal or both, and those are things I simply can't make myself enjoy no matter how hard I try. But when green teas are neither vegetal nor astringent, they end up being some of my favorites. But also? The real reason I've been so excited to try this tea? I LOVE toasted rice. No, I mean, I am low key obsessed with it.
So I was pretty sure I would love this tea, and I was not disappointed. It is everything I hoped it'd be: neither astringent nor vegetal, but smooth and deliciously toasted rice-y. I may or may not have even scooped the toasted rice out of the infuser and eaten it. #sorrynotsorry
Needless to say, I'm blissed out right now and headed over to my cart to purchase a whole bag of this bad boy. This tea is going to become a staple in my collection, I can already tell.
Such a weird yet tasty tea! Like popcorn made of grass.
Genmaicha has a very savory flavor profile. It is a toasty grain flavored Japanese green tea, and as such not one of my favorites. The quality of the Adagio version is certainly much better that of a competitor's version sampled months ago. Personally, it is a sample-once-and-move-on experience, but if you like savory teas, give it try.
Last year when we had this I remember it tasting like liquid rice cereal, this year I didn’t have much of the toasted rice so it was more like a toasty savory green. I could take or leave this one, it’s definitely not what I normally gravitate towards, but I wouldn’t turn it down if offered.
2/13/20 There is the smell of rice cereal, sweet and inviting, with a slight green grass aroma as the CommuniTea packet is opened. There are long strands of dried green leaves, a multitude of very tiny green bits, a good amount of rice!, and what looks like tiny popcorn! These odd ingredients make me smile, and as they are being poured into the infuser, the tiny tea flakes take flight - everywhere - on me - the counter! I chuckle trying to corral them all back into the infuser. This is going to be a wild ride. After steeping, the liquid is a beautiful, light gold, and it appears everyone has calmed down and done their job. The aroma is that of toasted puffed rice cereal. The taste is of very sweet honey, nuts, and rice - like the sweet toasted rice cereal of my youth - Sugar Smacks (now called Honey Smacks). There is no grassiness or astringency (common with most green teas). This is very yummy - just as it is - so no sweetener or cream is needed. This tea can be steeped twice, and I am sad when both cups are gone. I never heard of this Japanese green tea before today, and I would never have tried it, so thank you CommuniTea. This now needs to be in my cupboard! (2 steeps: 2:30 mins @ 180ºF).
UPDATE: So glad I purchased more of this tea, which remains one of my favorites.
Great tea!
This Genmai Cha (or even the Popcorn Green/same thing) is perfect because it's flavors pull the toasted sweetness naturally from the brown rice...but for me, it keeps me from being 'over caffeinated' during the day while getting in some green goodness. :)
I like this tea quite a lot, if I use about half of what I would normally use for a green tea. It has a very strong flavor, so it's over powering, unless you reduce the amount of tea you use to brew it. You also must brew this tea at 160! I keep seeing 180 for reviewer's brewing temps. That is just too high for this tea. 160 degrees will bring out the flavors and prevent it from becoming bitter.
One must remember that the entire point of the toasted rice in this tea is to make the tea last longer. I think a lot of people think that the rice is there to add bulk, so that it looks like more tea, but it is also there so that you don't have to use as much tea in the first place.
Once portioned properly, it becomes absolutely delicious with a light nutty flavor mixing with the flavor of the green tea. I suspect that people who are saying it is too strong are likely using the same amount as they would a normal green tea, and brewing it at too high a temperature.
I typically prefer my genmaicha with matcha but this one is very good for the price. will probably buy again.
Interesting tea, not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for but at least it's not bitter!
Excellent version of this tea. Warm, nutty, toasty green.
What can I say about Genmai Cha? Love it! I only wish Adagio would offer a 'chai' version. I had this from another tea shop which sadly no longer carries it. It was sooo good! So for now, I add chai spices which is less convenient.
Green tea continues to not be my thing, but this was recommended by a fried. Actually not that bad. Not what I want every day, but I can see wanting it in certain moods.
Exactly what you want in genmai cha tea. Nutty, popcorny, delicate flavors that are lovely for a morning tea.
Nutty and delicious! This is my go to green tea for every day.
I typically love this kind of tea. This particular one didn’t blow me away. In fact, it tasted nearly identical to the version sold in teabags at the grocery store. It’s not that I didn’t like it…. Just that I know there is better options from adagio. I won’t order this again, since I can get a box of very similar tea locally for $4. But I will be drinking what I have.
I tried this in a variety pack and absolutely loved it. I never thought I would enjoy the addition of popped rice to this tea, but it is very unique and enjoyable.
Big fan of this tea. Toasted, ricey, the green tea is high quality and wonderful. I love it! Thank you for a great tea. I also got a lot of servings from the bag I got.
I was really excited to get this tea in the Communitea today! It's been a few years since I had genmai cha and it was nostalgic for me. I have always loved the toasty notes of this type of tea and I enjoyed adagio's version
Genmai cha is one of my favorite teas and I am hard to please with this type of tea but adagio does a great job. Perfect balance of green tea and toasted rice flavor.
This tea is so different from practically any other I've had. As it's steeping, you can smell the nuttiness of the popped rice kernels. The vegetal taste of the green just melds with nutty flavor to be something so distinct that all I can say is it's Genmai Cha.
Also, I crave sushi when I drink this.
I don't know if everyone will like this, let alone love it as I do, but this is not a tea you can mistake for anything but itself.
Genuinely fun to look at, brew, and drink. Excellent toasted-rice flavor but otherwise very light on the tongue. Incredible, relaxing scent.
One of my favorites! Great flavor. Totally recommend.
There was a fresh green grassy scent prior to steeping...and for some reason the scent of cardamon...not sure how I got that as the tea doesn't have cardamon. Regardless, the fragrance was nice. Upon tasting the tea I got both a grassy and nutty flavor that felt rather soothing in my mouth, throat and tummy. I could really taste the roasted rice and it was both unique and flavorful. This tea is very big on flavor, no subtle-tea at all;-) Very nice!
Another favorite green tea.the roasted rice goes well with the green tea.
One of my favorite kinds of tea! Strong roasted rice flavor
Tastes like what toast would be as a drink, perfect to pair with a hearty meal or alone by itself to enjoy the blend of green tea with rice.
A truly unique and special flavor: the nuttiness from the rice really comes forth and is as comforting as it is addicting--probably going to be a staple in my collection going forward.
I drink a cup of this with Thai or Indian take out. Very enjoyable.
I am not usually a fan of green tea but I like the nuttiness you get from the popcorn and toasted rice
This is my new favorite green tea now that I can’t have minty flavors anymore thanks to stomach issues. It’s got a nice grassy, vegetal flavor and the rice gives it a delicious toasty taste. It’s really calming and I love it hot or cold.
Superb tea. I love the rich savory taste, it's like drinking a very good soup, but caffeinated.
Of all the green teas this is my husbands favorite.
I have had terminal metastatic cancer in my bones for 11 years. Different chemotherapies limit sleep and also upset the G/I tract. Around 3:00 a.m. each day I brew a quart of Genmai Cha and slowly drink it until 5:00. It has all the isoflavones of great green tea and the added flavors of rice as well. It slowly wakes me, gently, and adds so much to my peaceful morning. I treasure this tea!
This tea smelled delicious in the sample pouch, I have always loved the smell of green tea and this is definitely no exception. The first time I brewed it, according to Adagio instructions, it was a little light on flavor in my opinion. So the second time around I used 2 tsp of tea and I brewed it for 5 minutes instead, it came out with much more flavor and it was perfectly to my tastes. Delicious!
mmmm strangely one of my favorite teas, I have to keep coming back for more!
Wanted to love this based on others reviews. Smelled like rice krispies, and tasted like hot sesame oil. Could not finish a cup.
This toasty green tea is a savory umami experience. I would have to be in the mood to drink this, but it was a fun to try.
Very good flavor and typical for this type of tea, with a nice nutty flavor. Bought a sample to try. I’d like to try this in teabags next time.
I really like genmai cha to begin with and this one is really good. It has a light flavour from the green tea and a nice nuttiness from the roasted rice, its a nice calming tea. I typically set my kettle to 80 Celsius for the first cup then 82 for the second.
Great quality green tea and the nuttiness of the rice makes it less bitter.
love this in the morning! savory almost like a broth
This is my husband's FAVORITE tea! I really enjoy it too!
Love the hit of rice in the flavor, a new favorite tea for sure!
It’s great! I like this a lot and use it often. Def a favorite.
I really like this savory tea. The green tea and toasted rice combine really well!
Excellent tasting tea, recommend stepping a little longer for a heartier taste